When We Collide
by Pjaay
Summary: Chell and Doug Rattmann have escaped GLaDOs' clutches. Now, lost in City 17, they come to understand what has happened to their past world... They thought SHE was gone, they thought they could rebuild their lives.. But GLaDOs didn't die, and she is angry.
1. Escape

**A new Idea, a Little test ^^'**

**Whether you red the whole thing or not, I'd **_**love **_**some reviews **

**-:-**

The temperature started to rise slightly, wavering lines of heat dispersing from all the metal framed, pure white bodies of armoury soldiers placed across the facility. Mere few complained, but the ones who did were not quiet; constantly ranting on how someone was there, and that they turned the heat up on purpose.

A female, dressed accordingly in an orange jump suit. All around here swirled colour and light, heat and a strong wind. Her greying hair whipping against her face, causing her to squint her eyes. Her arms covered her face, as she stared upwards at the screaming machine as it burned and was twisted into horrible shapes. Explosions, bursts of fire, and screams all unfolded at the same time in front of this silent female, and all she did was watch.

It wasn't bad that she wanted to smile, that she wanted to jump around in glee. It wasn't wrong after all the torture the machine had put her through. She had gotten her revenge, and by lord, was it sweet. After 20 years held in stasis, preventing from aging, the woman had dreamt of life; how bad things were always happening to her, how love was never on her doorstep, and how her only weapon would bear no bullets.

The wind grew stronger, and the ever-so-bright light from high above the woman made her cower back for cover. But it was too late, she had been gawking at the scene for too long and she was also being sucked into its mouth. GlaDOs was gone, more so, and she deserved freedom, not to be suckered into the same fate as the cake-crazed robot, which was a lie, anyway.

Did she even _get _the cake she was promised? Had somebody already cut it? Was it that stupid Rattman?

Screaming, the woman fired her weapon madly, first in the direction of the door she came from, and then below herself. Just as the blue, swirling portal emerged, she was sucked into the large, subsequently more dangerous potals' wrath. Her arms flailed and her beloved weapon of protection flew from her grasp. It flew up above her somewhere, and the strong winds flung her skywards, no destination intended.

It seemed to last only a few seconds, but the bright light blinded her for more than a few minutes. She twisted and flipped around uncontrollably, her blinded eyes tearing up and stinging in the ice cold, alien breeze. Her voice was non-existent, lungs sucked clean of their clammy indoors-air. Unable to breathe, the woman squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her legs to her chest, waiting for the ordeal to end.

The impact was something that would remain in her mind forever. The shockwaves sent rippling under her dark, smooth skin rebounded back and forth. Her eyes whipped open, the brown irises darting around blindly, pupils retracted to be as small as pinheads. Tears poured down her face and her mouth gaped open madly. Blood was seeping into her agape mouth and her eyes continued to blindly stare forward; the crimson substance was now dribbling down her chin, and onto the cold, gravelly, tarmac ground.

Tarmac.

She wanted to move, she really did. Her left leg stung like hell and her eyes were locked forwards, unmoving. The blood from her mouth, and now nose, was pooling at her head; accompanied by blood from other wounds and scratches. Her fingers twitched accordingly when a cold breeze passed across her body, sending the hairs on her hands standing on end.

Paralysed, she managed to bring her eyes to focus, moving them slowly over her solid environment. Not the Enrichment Centre that she had spent the last two decades of her life, not the cleanly, grey-cuboid world she remembered.

This place was open, breezy, and added a silent breeze across her body that she only favoured. Blinking, she saw remaining parts of GlaDOs, scattered morosely around her, some on fire. Her bloody mouth managed to twitch into a pained smirk at the sight of the robot, dead, finally. Her smile faded slowly when she spotted her beloved weapon, her gun, her accomplice through all the bad times, shattered into pieces against the newly tarmacked ground; only finished twenty years ago, but never to be used. Fresh tears rolled down her cold cheeks as she stared, broken-hearted at her portal gun, silently giving grace to the weapon she had treasured, and trusted her life upon.

Trying to move, Chell hissed in a pain, lifting her head a little to stare at her left leg. The knee-brace. Before, helping to enhance her stature and jumping, landing, and running skills, but now ripped entirely from her leg. Her knee was in ruins, flesh hanging and blood pouring. That thing really had been secured well.

She couldn't move _that _leg, but the other seemed to be fine, despite her bloodied and scratched feet.

There was a slight clang of metal far to her right, and a low-tone groan. There was a mechanical scrape and then the sound of something gaining energy. Some_one_ huffed in a robot voice, and came into view.

Her heart dropped, savagely, she turned to see a white bodied robot limping towards her, and its single, dilated blue eye fuzzing slightly with every step. Chell's open mouth widened slightly more and her hands pushed roughly at the ground, trying in vain to push her limp body back and out of view, before the 'being' could find her. She sniffled slightly when she moved bare centimetres away from her previous position.

"_Ah-hh," _The robot cried in a broken tone, hopping slightly at the sight of the woman dragging herself in failure across the ground, _"We have to-o get you b-aaack to the *TzzzZZsh* Paarty! We alreaad-yy cut the cake!"_

Despite its broken speech, malfunctioning body parts, and fading eye, the robot made its way quickly over to the crying woman, holding out a long-fingered white-metal hand for hers. When she didn't take it, 'he' growled and roughly snatched it, pulling her body slightly and making her cry out;

"Stop! Let go of me!"

"_We have to g-et you bac-kk to the party! We *TzzzzCk* already c-uut the cake!" _The robot repeated in the same voice, its blue eye dimming slightly. _"We have t-ooo g-o!"_

Yelling, the woman tugged at her free hand, pulling it from the robots cold grasp, then hitting the arm away. The male sounding robot called out in protest and moved back to grab her wrist again.

"Hey!" A voice called from her far left, "Let go of her!"

The robot looked up, alarmed, and squeaked, before turning on its heel and speeding off; its mechanical grip still wrapped around Chell's wrist. She screamed in pain as her frail body was hauled along after the mechanical robot, being thrown around like a ragdoll. Stones and shards of glass stuck to her skin and dug through her open wounds, making her scream in agony.

Worriedly, the malfunctioning Escort Robot turned and looked down at the mess of a woman he had brought back to the gaping hole in the ground.

"_B-aaack to the party!"_

"No! She's not going back in there!" The male voice hollered again, closer this time.

A rock came hurtling through the sky, Chell's blurred vision faded to the sight of the male robot falling to the ground, shattered glass falling across the black tarmac and her face. As darkness crept down across her small, obsolete form, a mass of smudges moved in the corner of her sight, followed by the sound of more rocks hitting the struggling Escort Robot. The last thing upon the woman's shattered mine was how the sky managed to retain its natural beauty, the bright blue background for fluffy cotton-wool looking clouds; she would have reached out to touch them, if she wasn't falling unconscious, and if her limbs actually worked.

**-:-**

**Something new for you guys.**

**Just an Idea that popped up, I'm a bad updater, so I'm sorry if you liked this and get no updates.**

**Read && Review Please Dudes and Dudettes! **

**~Emma**


	2. Discovery

**16****th**** July, 2001 -**

**I'm scared, I really am.  
I don't know how to face this world around me, it's so daunting and… well, dark. When I first got out of the Enrichment centre, I saw blue skies, green trees, unscaved roads; it seemed like a perfect world, fitting for what I expected after escaped that stupid tomb of mine.**

**But no, it's nothing like that.**

**I'm torn to pieces, practically, my left knee is in ruins and my whole body **_**hurts. **_**I want this stranger to kill me, or do something to put me out of my misery, but he refuses. It isn't right. I'm dying, and he just shoves this journal in my face and tells me to write.**

**Write what? I don't know; some jargle about my experiences and any 'experiences' I am come across soon. I highly doubt that though, as I'm in pain and can barely write my name.**

**On that note, my name is Chell, I came to the Aperture labs for a 'bring-your-daughter-to-work-day' that went terribly, terribly wrong. A new robot the team unleashed backfired on the labs the second it was activated, locking the place down and releasing these toxic gasses… killing… eugh, I don't wanna say, I'm crying already…**

**I'm going now... That dude is coming back into the room...  
-Chell.**

The fair skinned woman shut her book hastily and raised her head, staring wryly at the man who had just walked through the door of the guard-post at Aperture Science Enrichment Centre's car park. He smiled a little and sat down on the desk by the open window, savouring the fresh breeze slightly. His hands wringing around each other and his light blue eyes darting across the woman's immaturely wrapped wounds.

"I-I Was never the medial guy," the man stuttered worriedly, still wringing his hands and avoiding eye-contact, "Never taught more than just, bandages,"

Chell grimaced at the man's speedy words and shifted her slouch on the floor of the tidy room, placing the black leather book and biro by her side, keeping her dark gaze on the skittery man's face. She took note of his clothing; battered and torn lab coat, aperture logo visible on the left breast, a single pen was in his pocket. The hem of the coat's bottom was lined with mud and water, staining the material and bleak grey, whilst his long sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing mildly hair and thin arms, one of which held an expensive looking watch. This man had brown hair, slightly longer than what men were permitted to have in the labs; a sign he had _not _been in stasis for the complete 20 years, more 3 or so. An earlier test subject. His eyes were a distant blue and his skin pale, extremely pale. Infact, He looked quite ill.

"It's alright," The woman muttered in response, tightly holding her better-conditioned leg to her chest and sighing awkwardly, "At least we're out of that place,"

The man looked down at her from his perch on the desk and blinked, opening his mouth to say something, but stopping himself. Instead, he put his hand deep into his lab-coat pocket and withdrawing a small piece of plastic, he held it towards her with a shaky grip.

"I'm s-surprised I still have this," He murmured, not looking into her eyes, "It's my name tag from… back then..."

Chell moved her arm, reaching for the tag, before bringing it down to view and reading it aloud steadily.

"Doug Rattmann," She said, closing her eyes and sighing when her leg sent a few distraught waves of pain up her body. Slowly, she opened them again and stared up at the man, interested in why he had made no response as yet, "Aperture Image Formatter,"

Instantly, he cleared his throat and nodded, looking around wearily before speaking;

"I'd… I'd almost forgotten my profession, and my name, to be honest," he said quietly, keeping his gaze on the ground.

A silence fell across the two as the sun, still high in the sky, bore down its bathing rays on the small car park. Breaking through the fluffy white clouds and spilling across the land. A couple of birds sat in a far tree and watched as the two humans sat inside the guard-box, where old ticket-police officers used to sit and allow cars in and out.

The male cleared his throat, waking up the woman from a light, and well needed slumber. She looked up curiously, rubbing an eye a little, waiting for the man to say whatever he was planning to.

"She said there would be cake…" he mumbled dejectedly, "She promised me it… if I… if I completed the centre,"

He looked up, this time staring directly at Chell, his eyes boring into hers, "I didn't complete it, I _need _that cake." His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he grew angry, his long-fingered hands curling into fists, "I had to kill my best friend!" His voice was now rising, "I had to kill my,_ best, friend_! My _only_ companion through all the shit, and all the _death_, in that _stupid_ place!"

Relating to his situation, although not as half insane, Chell nodded, a frown overtaking her features;

"I_ know _how you feel," She said quietly, "I went through it too,"

"Maybe so…" Doug replied, calming slightly, "But I doubt you spent the same amount of time with it… with… her. I was the one who set your gun up in the right places, I was the creator of that cube… my…"

He stopped, overcome with emotions. He looked away and crossed his arms, causing the couple to fall silent this time, except much more awkwardly.

Ignoring the man for his own good, Chell looked down too her damaged leg, the brace was missing, left behind in the wreckage, leaving the other leg to be the only one supported. She would have trouble learning to walk again in this state, but, it could be done.

The sound of burning metal got a little louder, as something mechanical burst and sent more flames spreading across the tarmac. Doug raised his head and looked outside, his slender nose raised as he tested the air.

"We're getting out of here," He said simply, regaining himself slightly, "We're leaving this place,"

"What!" Chell opposed, "have you _seen _me lately? And, I don't even know you!"

"We are leaving!" The man replied with a stern snap, glancing at the orange dressed woman before reaching out with a hand. Slowly, and unsurely, Chell took his outspread palm and hauled herself to her feet, grimacing at the pain in her knees and feet, all-over more so, and tested her left foot out. She made sure to keep a firm grasp on her journal and pen.

It felt odd placing her toes on the ground, without the support of the knee brace, her right leg was fine, but the other she had to make stand on its toes without support, so she did not limp. Interestingly, she managed to take a few wavering steps without falling, despite a raging headache that had decided to spring up at that moment. She bit her tongue a little and squeezed the man's hand, hobbling forward as she went. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that the man was still only just taller with her, even _with _the extension slightly to her height.

"I took your, umm, your _leg brace__._If we find someone medical, maybe we could attach it again?"

She was unsure, as by the time that had sought medical help, her wounds may had already healed, and the surgery would be costly and painful. But it was a part of her, surgically attached to the tendons in her knee.

"Okay,"

-:-

Slowly, they made their way out of the small building, into the cool breeze, and begun their trip down the long and abandoned road. Chell's arm was hooked around Doug's shoulders, whilst he mustered whatever strength he could find to keep his right arm tight around her waist to keep her upright. The dark haired woman hobbled in pain, each step on her left leg sending unwanted vibes traveling through her body, which made her hiss in agony.

The horizon eventually came into view, the sun disappearing behind the clouds they left behind in the destruction of the Aperture Science Enrichment Centre. Swirling grey clouds replaced the distant blue sky they had become accustomed too after their time inside the Aperture Facilities. Swirling winds, carrying debris and mess, passed the wastelands, throwing around whatever remnants of life their used to be. Besides the large expanse of sandy ruins, there was a large, extremely large, portion of the expanse which was blocked off and secured with mile-high metal walls. Hovering spacecraft settled above the city, searchlights pointing down through the dust; they looked like ants above the monstrously huge city.

"What…" Chell murmured to herself, despite the male to her left hearing her, "What the hell happened…"

Her companion hesitated; "I… I think I heard about this, before it all happened,"

The couple stopped walking onwards and paused, both staring sullenly out across the city, which used to cover the whole expanse of wastelands. Doug sighed irritably and turned, leading the woman in orange overalls to a fallen tree, sitting her down in the bark before sitting beside her. He took a long, much needed inhale of air, before letting it out and starting to explain;

"Twenty years ago, Black Mesa had started their research into the design and creation of working _portals_. We, Aperture science, were err, in competition with them? I suppose…" he looked at Chell calmly, "They got there before us, opening a portal to a parallel universe called… oh god what was it… ah! It was called Xen. Xen was full of parasitic aliens, which arrived in our world and… enslaved us all? Yes…"

Chell looked astounded, her mouth was open, exposing her high cheekbones further. She blinked a little, twisting her gaze from Mr Rattmann and the city miles and miles to their front.

"How does that explain the airships and massive walls? Was it the army?"

"Kinda," Rattmann admitted, "It's was Combine, an elite force run by a man named Wallace Breen. They were only a small force when I went to work, before GlaDOs… You see that tall thingy in the middle of the city?" he pointed in the buildings direction, clearing changing the subject from the murderous robot.

"Yes..."

"That's the citadel, when the wimpy Breen hides away. It had only just started construction when aperture was sunk under; I never expected it to get so tall,"

Chell bit her lip, resting her arms carefully on her lap,

"So, _that _explains the guarded perimeters…"

Both humans looked up to meet each other in the eye, the pale faced man smiled slightly and then looked down to the ground again.

Chell sighed, feeling a cool breeze waft over the back of her neck, making her hairs stand on end and her body shiver accordingly. The feeling of dread, at the same time as relief, passed over her as she wondered of her life. What had happened to her family? Were they enslaved by these 'Aliens'? Had it really been that long?

"How did you survive?" Curiously asked the woman in orange, standing awkwardly on her half-supported legs, wincing a little, "You must have been inside the labs too, why didn't you call for me?"

Surprised at the question, Doug blinked in confusion. He slowly began to realise what she was talking about and a more comfortable expression settled down his face. Shortly followed by a sad look, obviously for his long lost companion cube…

"I didn't even know there was another Test Subject," He murmured softly, looking down, "I thought I was the only one left. That stupid machine forced me into setting up the test areas, completing impossible challenges, and risking my sorry life for an unachieved goal… I made dens around the labs, where I lived for months on end if I could, and she never found me,"

"GlaDOs?"

"Yes…"

Chell smiled slightly, staring up at the man, "I saw your dens, Rattmann,"

"Y-You did?" He seemed shocked, taking a step back and furrowing his brow slightly, "You were following me?"

"I had too!" Chell opposed, blinking slightly, "GlaDOs was making me!"

They fell silent again, Doug slowly taking the woman by the waist, lifting her arm up around his shoulders. He began leading her down the tarmac road, until the tarmac turned to gravel, the gravel into dusty, cracked pathways of an abandoned down, then to a sandy abyss.

"Don't worry," He puffed slightly, wiping his forehead with his free hand, helping the drowsy woman stay standing, "Not far too go now, I can see guards standing outside the perimeters,"

"G-Good," Chell whispered, her cracked, bloodied lips barely forcing the word into ear-shot, "…Gr-reat…"

They slowed to a wary halt beside an abandoned house, alone in the expanse outside the guarded city, Doug rested her slowly against the wall, and then stood out in the daylight, waving his arms and jumping slightly.

"Hey!" He called, "Over here!"

There was a burst of crackling radio-talk,. And the heavily armoured combines guarding the entrance to the city whipped out their assault rifles and pointed them in his direction, opening fire instantly.

Yelling, Doug Rattmann dived back behind the house, not greeting the astonished Chell as she held her side and leant against the cement walls. She stared, wide-eyed, as the man clamped his jaw shut and covered his ears, trying in vain to block out the noise of rattling gunfire.

"We're human!" He cried from behind the wall, repeating it over and over, "We're human! Stop shooting!"

The gunfire was quick to subside, and the bustling radio-chatter fell instantly silent, a few broken notes were heard before the sandy pastures fell silent again.

"What the…" Doug murmured, inching closer to the wall, holding Chell's hand for friendly support, "They stopped way too quick… there was no way they could have heard me…"

Peeking around the corner, his heart sank basically into his stomach, at the sight of a man dressed in orange metal, beating the hell out of one of the guards with a short metal object. Stopping, the stranger looked up to see both Dough and Chell staring, frozen, in his direction. The man nodded, before running around on of the open gates and slipping into the city.

"Let's go…" Doug muttered, leading the shaking woman slowly towards the large, blue metal gates.

**-:-**

**WHAT A TWIST.**

**R&R :)**

**3 ~ Emma**


	3. Human

**18****th**** July -**

**Things are, umm, going better than expected. I'm finding it easier to walk on my un-stabilised leg by the hour, and Doug is doing well at leading us through the city to safety.**

**He's a good man. He means well, really, I can tell. But, something GlaDOs did to his mind within that confinement of an Enrichment Centre… It's toying with him, and he needs to let it go. GlaDOs is gone, dead, never gonna return, he is **_**fine**_**. One thing keeps bugging me, is that he keeps going on about how a man in orange saved us from those Civil Protection dudes in the outlands, outskirts, of the city. He really **_**is **_**kinda crazy. But I owe him my life, so there's no reason to think badly of him.**

**Right now, I'm sitting on my butt, resting my journal on my **_**bad**_** knee. Yup, it's healed **_**that **_**much in the space of what, two days? Rattmann seems to know more medical skills that he first told me about, which is good I suppose. He seems to be taking well to leading us through the dark alleyways of City 17 without being spotted, which, all in all, is extremely helpful.**

**I'm a little worried about his health, though… he coughs continuously like he's smoked all his life and he has a slight limp that I'd only recently noticed. Being lanky, it's very easy to notice his deficiency in walking… I need to talk with him.**

**No **_**way,**_** am I EVER letting him read this. He gave it to be to write my problems and secrets, but the only thing I'm worried about are his health… **

**Chell x**

**-:-:-**

"Keep your head down!" Doug hissed, holding up a hand in Chell's general direction and bending low with a grunt, "CP's up ahead,"

Chell's eyebrows furrowed slightly and she sighed;

"You… seem to know a lot about the Civil Protection,"

He stopped, turning on the spot and leaning slightly against the side of the building they were using as valuable cover.

"When I was studying at university," he said hurriedly, "We met these guys; a few roughnecks' in my classes pissed them off and got themselves arrested… and a few Taser burns. Things seem to have gotten… umm… worse, so we have to stay on guard,"

Chell blinked, nodding in silence and hugging her A4 journal tighter to her chest, using one arm to fiddle awkwardly with the scarred earlobes which used to bear the nicest of earrings. She breathed out slowly and edged closer to the man, staying by his side as a shouting pair of CP's ran past, in the general direction of the south entrance to the city; probably due to the dead combines the man in the orange left behind.

"F-Follow me, stay close," The man stuttered lowly, reaching back to grab the woman's spare hand, the one that had been fiddling with her ears, and bursting into a jog across the main road. His grip was tight, and he was almost dragging the startled woman as they zipped across the street.

Suddenly, there was a long, loud, and drawn out groan, its pitch rising in alarm. Both adults halted in their tracks and stared upwards, mouths gaping. Chell's grip on Doug's hand tightened considerably, and she let out an exasperated shriek. Both their legs seemingly turned to jelly, as the thing they were staring at let out another scream and moved around in a spiderlike fashion.

It was tall, towering over nearly all the buildings in that section of the city. Its colours a mixture of beige and white. Massive guns hung down solemnly from the large body the creature held frame, swaying at every cautious stop it made with its long, spindly legs to turn and face the duo.

Speechless, and frozen to the spot, both adults stared, wide-eyed, upwards. With shrunken pupils from the bright midday light and loosely hanging mouths that whined in awe.

"M-Move!" Rattmann suddenly yelled, tightly gripping his female companions hand and running around the machine.

Yelling, the tall robotic monster shot madly with its large gun, sending blue shards of fiery electricity towards the humans, hitting instead the building behind them, shattering the wall and sending it collapsing to the ground; resulting in an ear-piercing explosion, and a building with a missing wall, swaying subconsciously.

The couple moved quickly; dodging falling rubble with shrieks, running _underneath _the monster, and onwards down the empty road. Confused and angry, the stalking monster cried out and twisted around, spotting the pair far down the road and shooting after them. Lucky for them, it missed each shot, although, it _was _hot on their heels.

The thing took a few sweeping steps forward, in pursue of its prey. It's long drawn-out groans echoing through the sectioned off buildings. All the while it was shooting with the hot beams of electricity; it bounced off the ground, leaving scorch marks and craters, with every miss.

"Q-Quick!" Doug Rattmann screamed, wrenching open an ajar door and shoving the woman behind him inside, before rushing in after her and slamming the door shut. Closing off the noisy, destructive world behind them and trapping them in…

"A… Train station?" Chell whispered, bending slightly to feel her damaged leg, all the while keeping her gaze locked on her newest, quieter, surroundings.

"Chell…" Doug said softly, nudging her slightly rough with his elbow, "Chell, can you see what I see up ahead…"

She concentrated, her brown eyes dilating, then shrinking. Her eyebrows raised and her mouth dropped when she saw what was directly before her, a good twenty or so metres ahead. Across the room, was a man.

This man was well built, sturdy looking. His well-shaven, shaped face looked confident; overshadowed by his choppy black hair as it cascaded across his brow. He looked up steadily, browsing his eyes across the heavily breathing pair.

Locked in each other's gazes, the first to speak was the stranger. He opened his mouth slightly, resting down a package he was clasping slightly against a bank-style window. His voice sounded distant, and echoed slightly against the glazed walls of the building, "Who're you?" He was southern, by the sounds of it, and his voice was complemented by the slack-tied overalls around his waist, "Not from 'round these parts,"

Doug took a weary step forward and raised an eyebrow, "No, w-we're not," As weary as he sounded, stutter and all, the Rattmann was trying to be overly-confident. Not that it was showing much, "We're from Aperture Science, a foundation locked down some years back."

"I didn't say I wann'id to know _where _yous' were from," The sarcastic tone was high in this man's voice, "I jus' said you were'n from 'round here." He picked up his package again and held it to his side, before taking long sweeping steps in the frozen couple's direction. His strides were large, close to dragging, but the man stood tall, and tall he was.

About 6 foot, almost. As tall as a man could get before being _called _tall. He stooped slightly as he reached the duo and raised an eyebrow comically.

He looked down to Chell's supported leg, "Whut, you some kinda android or som'in?"

Hurt, the woman defended herself morosely, "No! I was _tested _on, back at the labs."

There was a slight pause, and then the dark-haired man spoke again, "So, you saw that Strider outside, huh?" The man said in a matter of fact, ignoring the orange dressed woman, and changing the subject, "Pretty scary. Thas' why we all stay inside-"

"Wait," Doug Rattmann insisted, "There are others, here?"

Confused, the taller man stuck out his lower lip, "'course," he said, shifting his weight slightly, "'bout twenty of us in this here buildin'. All cooped up in the apartments above,"

Shocked, the pair followed the man, as he lead them through the maintenance rooms of the abandoned train station, and into an old looking lift. When they had settled, and the machine had begun to rise, the stranger was the first to start a conversation.

"So," He said, "What're your names?"

Doug flicked a smile in the man's direction, "I'm Doug Rattmann,"

"Chell,"

"Well, Sonny boy," the man laughed at Doug, "My nickname's Coal, call me that. Hey, you're perty lucky ta fin' this girly, she's quite a looka'," he winked at a surprised Chell.

Lost for words, the couple remotely looked away from each other, avoiding the embarrassing act of looking in each other's eyes. The man regarding their luck for each other smiled toothily and pressed a button, leading the shaking mechanical lift to screech to a slow halt, "Here we go…" he said, pulling apart the metal-guard doors and leading the pair into a long corridor.

The long room was painted red, some of the dried crimson substance wearing away in damp sections of the walls and ceiling. The floor was lined with dirty green carpet, worn flat after years of use. There were many 'Welcome' mats outside apartment doors, some colourful, some that scratchy horse-hair kind of material. There was a sudden wave of damp smell; it clung to the air strongly and almost made Chell feel sick. She was used to the disinfectant smells of the Aperture science labs, not a musky, dirty, apartment block. Not to mention she was wearing no shoes.

"Guys!" Coal called, jogging briskly down the corridor and hitting each of the oak wooden doors with a balled fist, "Guys, We have visitors!"

There were some groans from within all the rooms, and the dark haired man motioned for the couple to follow him down the corridor. Obediently, they did, and turned a sharp right, which opened up too an outside balcony kind of room. There was no real wall opposing the street below, and the ceiling were really just a few canopies held up with rope and metal poles, in the middle of the whole set up, were two long benches and some other seats, and a make-shift, unlit, campfire in the middle.

Strangely, on the remains of wall that were left unshielded against the elements, were propped a few large guns, and riot cop shields which buzzed an electric blue.

"What is this?" Chell said quietly with a frown, taking the armed weapons into order, "What's going on here?"

Coal's grin fell, "Are you stewpid, girl?" he moved over and patted one of the weapons, "These 'ere are out pride n' joy. Keep us safe when the artillery tries ta' wipe us out. Haven't lost a duel yet!" His bubbly attitude returned and he patted the large gun again, before standing up and addressing the couple, "Douggy, Miss, You can both sit down if ya like,"

"Thanks," Chell said slowly, moving awkwardly over to a seat, taking Doug by the hand and ignoring his grumbles about what 'Coal' had called him.

For a moment, silence had befallen them. In the still scene where no-one moved for a moment. Nothing stirred, the peace was beautiful. Like there _was _no war raging, like there was no death surrounding them. In that moment, which didn't last more than a while, everything seemed normal. Everything seemed alright again.

That silence was broken by the most timid of voices, high and confused.

"Coal?" The female whispered, "Coal, are you alright?"

"Sure am!" The man replied, his loud voice contrasting against the other woman's own, "Jus' some new company!"

Her lips were painted pink, her skin as smooth as a peach, and her features chiselled and perfect. Her hair was the brightest of blonde, before being classed as albino, tied in a bun atop her head, letting the sausage-like ringlets fall down her face and neck. Her bright blue eyes shone in the setting sun, twinkling slightly in confusion. She was leant slightly against the door less door-frame, her body hugged within a light pink dressing gown, which reached down to her ankles. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, and her feet were bare.

"Who are these people?"

"Hey, Sugar," Coal smiled, "This is Doug, and Chell. I found 'em whilst getting' some food fer tha' morning',"

She looked interested, "Oh," Her petty blonde eyebrows rose as she moved in closer to the trio and sat beside Coal.

"My names Sugar," She said quietly, "Nice to meet you,"

The two confused beings nodded politely.

Coal turned to Sugar and nodded, "The others coming?"

"Yeah," She replied, "Indy and Blink are on their way, just getting dressed."

Chell raised her head, "Why do you all have… such odd names?"

Sugar laughed a tinkling kind of sound that you'd imagine from a fairy or something. She smiled with her perfect smile and folded her arms tighter, "They aren't our real names, and we just prefer to not tell people what we are actually called, for safety and stuff,"

"Oh… So there's just the four of you?"

"Yeah, but before I arrived," She leant forward slightly, speaking with haste to make conversation, "There was this other guy, named Gordon. He was quiet, never said a word. Apparently only stayed for a few weeks before buggering off to do something of 'great importance'. Coal says he wore this weird orange, like, armour, all the time, or something,"

"Orange?" Doug suddenly said, raising his head from his hands and watching the pretty, young woman intently, "He wore orange?"

"Yes…"

"I see, O-Okay…"

Another silence drew across the four, until two men, laughing heartily about something, walked briskly out of the corridor and sat on a stool each. One man had closely shaven brown hair, wore a dark brown shirt with jeans, and oddly enough was wearing a cowboy-style ranch hat. He grinned and laughed at something the other man said. That man was younger. He had short-cropped hair, save the longer fringe that fell across his brown, eyes. The eyes themselves were framed with thin rimmed circle spectacles. He was wearing a light blue shirt, top button undone, and a tie which hung down loosely. He wore suit-style black trousers, crease long missing, and simple black leather shoes.

"Hey there!" The man with the hat smiled, waving with three fingers, "My name's Indy and this here boy with tha' glasses is Blink!"

"Hi," Both the newcomers said quietly, Chell added, "I'm Chell and this is Doug,"

"Nice to meet you," Blink said shyly, in a light voice, looking down from the pair's faces and at his black, scuffed shoes. He then noticed Chell's bloodied, bandaged leg, and looked up at her slightly, "Tomorrow, I'll take a look at that leg if you like. I… I took a medial… surgeon degree,"

Chell's mouth twitched into a smile.

"Right!" Coal said, standing up and clapping his hands tightly together, "The lights disappearing', and we gotta knuckle down fer bed,"

"Bed?" Doug said in confusion, sitting up and watching the dark-haired man curiously, "I haven't slept properly in… in years,"

"Same, I've been in stasis," Chell pondered, resting her head in the palm of her hand, and her elbow on her good knee, "… We haven't had sleep in ages,"

Coal stood proudly, "Well, Girly. Prepare yourself fer a gewd night's sleep! You guys are lucky get got us a spare room!"

A flickering smile passed over the duo's faces, they forgot of the stalking monster previously chasing them down the streets of the city, and the festering, healing wound that Chell had inflicted upon her knee. All their minds could settle on was the idea of a _warm _bed for a night, and the chance to _actually _sleep.

-:0:-

She settled down slowly onto the bed, letting the mattress springs squeak awkwardly. Her breath hitched as she put her journal aside and lifted her legs up onto the bed. She settled down eventually, after turning with a few grumbles under the scratchy blankets, soon, she managed to get reasonably comfy.

"Chell?" A weary voice sounded, a good half an hour later, from the other side of the room, making her jump slightly, "Chell are you… O-okay?"

"Yes…" She replied slowly, as if she had to think about it.

"I…. Can't… I Can't sleep,"

"Same,"

She stared up through the darkness, at the cement ceiling, and shifted under her blankets.

"I don't like this place," He said humbly, in a deep, whispering voice, "It's not right,"

She turned her head and blindly stared in the direction of his bed, on the other side of the room.

"But, it's better than that hellhole,"

"I know, this place is more human, but _that _place seemed the n-norm… after so long,"

Chell closed her eyes, heaved a sigh, and opened them again, pausing only before opening her mouth to speak; "I-I don't like it here either, Doug," she said quietly, "But, we have to find people. We need to figure out what's happening _here _before we do anything about _her_,"

Rattmann cleared his throat and spoke hoarsely, "But, She's dead, right?"

"Hopefully,"

But in actual truth, she wasn't sure. She really wasn't sure. That machine was built to survive, and it had for the past decade or two. That explosion only managed to damage her as far as breaking a portion of her leg, so it shouldn't have done much about the robots massive metal exterior… and… interior, for that matter. She _wasn't_ human.

"Just, try to sleep," She soothed, raising her arms out from under her covers and placing them awkwardly by her side, "try to sleep," she repeated.

"I… Okay,"

With that phrase, the oriental eyes of the woman in orange fluttered shut, her mind closing down into something far, far different from stasis.

**-;-**

**Holy crapmonkeys! That's quite'a lot ;3**

**Review, please ;D**


End file.
